GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids-based organization is restoring hope and homes for families in need.
Restored Refuge Design is changing lives, one family at a time. Its co-founder, Jill Boersma, is FOX 17's Pay it Forward Person of the Month brought to you by Lake Michigan Credit Union.
With her faith and a vision, Boersma says she felt a calling to help.
Alongside her friend, Jodie Gritter, they created Restored Refuge. The mission is in the name.
"We truly believe that every family, every individual, deserves a home that brings a sense of refuge," Boersma said. "I am a huge thrifter myself. I have a home that's full of items that are used. So I looked at the amount of items that are being donated by the community, and thought, 'How can we use these in better ways?'"
The inspiration to give back is rooted in Christ and how he lived.
She added, "That was one of the most essential ways that he showed love was meeting the physical needs of the people that he came into contact with."
The pair set out to furnish homes of families in need with warmth, beauty and function. Serving the greater Grand Rapids area, they work with places like the YWCA, Safe Haven Ministries and the Kent County Health Department, relying on them to refer families in need.
With children and families of their own, the pair still managed to find the time to complete nearly 90 moves in the last three years. About 200 children have been impacted as a result.
They get it all done with help from the community around them and muscle from Two Men and a Truck.
Boersma said, "And in two to four hours, we set up a space for this family that they get to come home to that really speaks to them and gives them that sense of home."
They provide new mattresses, pillows and bath towels while donations like dressers, cabinets, night stands and tables fill the rest of the house.
When it's based on their clients' wants, not just needs, the result becomes much more. Clients get to request colors and themes and share how they spend their time when they're home.
"Rather than just a roof over their head, [it's] a place of refuge and a place that feels like home," Gritter remarked.
For many, that home can mean healing.
Boersma said, "We truly believe that what we're doing is restoring that place of refuge for them."
As the FOX 17 and Lake Michigan Credit Union Pay it Forward Person of the Month, Boersma will receive a $550 prize.
Do you know someone who should be our next Pay It Forward Person of the Month? Nominate them here.
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